I had a great conversation with playwright Germaine Shames (http://sitekreator.com/germainewrites/main_page.html). It was a pleasure chatting with Germaine about my work and what she is doing, and she was  very generous sharing tactics on getting plays produced. It wasn’t a matter of her revealing a silver bullet approach, as much as reaffirming the sense that getting work out is as much an adventure as writing it, and that this adventure has to be embraced. She shared with me a great David Bowie clip where he talks about making art to please oneself first, which really hit the spot.

I think I’m actually in a kind of advantageous moment where there is really nothing pulling me in a particular direction, so I’m forced to do that thing that Bowie is talking about. Obviously, I’m working on creating demand for me, but the bright side of it is that it’s a wide open situation, mine to define. I think I wish it were otherwise, but in fact need to be here. There’s plenty to bitch about in terms of the challenges of getting one’s art acknowledged, but at the same time, this more or less forces me to keep going in my exploration and creation. Which is a necessary adventure.

Faith for me is a physical experiencing, a kind of future seeing that is inseparable from creation, because we’re doing/making something that hasn’t happened yet, but it is in us to do this. So to the degree that literature is an act and experience of creation, it is inseparable from some form of faith. Whether you are producing literature or consuming it, you are in the presence of faith.

This faith is not a hope, or some stubborn, unfounded belief, or an egotistical insistence that my way is the right way, or that all my images will play out as I’d like them to; they will not. This faith is an access point to what we already are but haven’t manifested. Though there may be no proof, there is never the less substance and alignment, feeling and purpose. And then the creation comes.

My growing sense is that no one fulfills any significant intention of creation without large doses of faith. Though writers are champion doubters, capable of spinning intricate fantasies of disbelief, there is that core that knows and always knew. In this sense, faith is what we can’t escape of ourselves, no matter how much we equivocate. Though there may be no tangible proof for it, it is that essential element of identity without which you are not you anyway, so why not just accept it?

Though doubt might seem eminently more reasonable, provable and replicable, it is actually an absurd indulgence when it drives you to embrace and enforce your own oblivion. I don’t believe there is some external force that insists on my annihilation, but if there was, I certainly won’t be a party to it in my own intellect. If this sort of doubt registers as a passive naturalistic kind of death urge, then faith is an equally innate but less unexercised movement towards life and light.

 

*Rock & Sling, the literary journal that recently published my personal history essay, Black Sheep, asked contributors to share our view on the connection between literature and faith. They included this in lieu of the standard bio.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT Karen Burns 480-332-7914

EMAIL [email protected]

July 24, 2015

 

ImprovMANIA and Burns it Up present a “Back to School Night” storytelling event at ImprovMANIA in Historic Downtown Chandler on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 cash at the door with proceeds benefitting San Marcos Elementary, a Title 1 school in Chandler, AZ.

 

EAST VALLEY –

Burns-It-Up, a non-profit organization based in Chandler, Arizona, and ImprovMANIA, a Chandler based improv comedy club, presents a night of true stories about lessons learned in and out of school along with live music by Duane Mathes on August 23, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. The night will include stories written and performed by Chandler residents Karen Burns, Keith Burns, Monica Avila and Andrea Parker along with Joe Bardin, Debra Rich and Brad Bond from the greater Phoenix area.

Tickets are $10 cash at the door. All proceeds benefit San Marcos Elementary, a title 1 school. Title 1 is the federal government’s commitment to closing the achievement gap between low-income and moderate-to-high income students. Chandler Unified School District’s goal is to assist disadvantaged and underserved students to meet the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards.

ImprovMANIA is located at 250 S. Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ 85225

Burns-it-Up isa positive, creative, non-profit organization offering classes for children and adults in Chandler, Arizona.Pursuing excellence in theatre and individuals since 2005.

 

ImprovMANIA offers two improv comedy shows every Friday and Saturday night at their Downtown Chandler location as well as improv classes for children and adults.

 

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For more information regarding this event or classes:

Karen Burns, 480.332.7914, [email protected]

For more information in improvMANIA

Dave Specht, 480.699-4598, [email protected]

For more information on Burns It Up:

http://www.burnsitup.com

For more information on Chandler Unified School District Title 1 Schools:

http://www.cusd80.com

I’ve been invited to read at Improvmania in Chandler, August 23rd. It’s a back to school fundraiser for kids in need, so I picked a piece about career growth, which is code for the struggle between earning and living and being an artist. It was published a while back in Toad Suck Review, but I’ve never read it publicly.

Despite the name, Improvmania, I will not be improvising, other than the possibly charming off the cuff banter before I begin reading word for word. This will be my first reading since Lit Lounge last year at the Scottsdale Museum of Modern Art. I was nervous then, and when it was my turn, the mic was set too low for me by about three inches, and instead of adjusting it, or asking someone to help me adjust it, I read my entire piece in an ever so slight stoop. While this might have been sort of beneficial for my core musculature, it was not the best way to deliver a light hearted  accounted of my adventures as a self-conscious male model. Actually, that’s often how I felt modeling, slightly off kilter, never quite comfortable, too uncertain to ask questions.

So I’m looking forward to reading into a properly adjusted microphone and having a good time with everyone who turns out. Debra has promised more information soon, and I will post as soon as available.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for sending us “Black Sheep.” We love it and would like to publish it in the fall issue of Rock & Sling.

Attached is a publishing agreement, which you may sign electronically and return as a Word or pdf document, or sign physically and mail to the address listed in the agreement.

In order to make our contributor notes more meaningful to our readers, we hope that you will write briefly about what you believe to be the connection between literature and faith, in terms of the work you will have in the forthcoming issue. I know it is a complicated and introspective request, but please limit yourself to 300-500 words if possible.

We don’t include the usual biographical information – prizes won or nominated for, previous publications, education – in Rock & Sling’s contributor notes.

Please return the publishing agreement and your contributor note to[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> at your earliest convenience.

Also, during the summer I’ll copy edit your essay and will make any suggested edits, which I’ll run by you before the piece is finalized for publication. In the meantime, would you be willing to expand your essay a bit, by clarifying whether you’re still a part of the community you reference in the essay, and touching on the worldview/beliefs you’ve developed for yourself? If you could send me your revised essay by June 1, that’d give me plenty of time to edit it and for us to finalize it.

Thank you for trusting us with your work, Joe, and for helping us make the best issue possible.

Sincerely,

Julie Riddle
Rock & Sling
Creative Nonfiction Editor